84 JOITRNAL OF CONClIOI.nnV, VOL. 16, NO. 3, JANUARY, I92O. 



very useful. It is very important to have the shells thoroughly dry, 

 especially if any part of the animal is left inside, before placing them 

 in the cabinet, otherwise they are very liable to shew signs of damp, 

 causing a small fungus to grow, which will sometimes spread to 

 specimens looking perfectly. clean. It is also important to see that 

 no dirt or animal matter is left in the suture or umbilicus, as this 

 will easily start the trouble, so I invariably wash the shells in luke- 

 warm water and clean them with an old tooth-brush. A needle 

 fastened to a holder will always help when the matter is very dry. 

 The larger species of land shells are easily cleaned if the water is 

 quite boiling, but too many should not be attempted at one time. 

 If the animal has retreated far up the shell, it is better to damp 

 them, and let them be on the crawl, before putting them in tlie water. 

 Freshwater shells are also easily cleaned. In the case of Plsidium it 

 is best to take out the animal when the shell is open, and screw up 

 carefully in thin tissue paper till dry. In operculated species it is 

 important to detach the o[)erculum, and when the shell is dry, place 

 it in position, backed by a little cotton-wool, and fasten it with gum 

 or coaguline. 



Having got the shells, the next question is how to mount them for 

 the cabinet. Many plans have been adopted. Some of the old col- 

 lectors used wood or card tablets, but this necessitated some form of 

 gum or glue, and often ruined the shells. Morelet used card tablets, 

 but his adhesive did not seem to damage the shell at all. On the 

 top of the tablet he wrote the name and author of the species, and 

 the locality at the bottom ; on the back he always put the name of 

 the person from whom he had received them, and also the date, and 

 very often some remark, but if he had collected the specimens hniiself 

 he simply wrote " Mihi." Some shells that I bought at " Stevens " 

 many years ago, evidently from a very old collection, were loose in 

 trays, with the name of the species and the locality written on a card- 

 board label, and at the back of the label the name of the dealer 

 from whom they had been bought, e.g., Humphreys, 27th Nov., 1810, 

 Mawe, 23rd Feb., 181 x. 



My old friend Rogers mounted most of his shells on glass tablets, 

 so that on turning them over you could see the underside of the shell 

 without taking it off. For some time I followed his example, but 

 there are many objections to this plan, as it takes up a great deal of 

 room, and if one is not careful, one glass may slide over another. 

 Another plan for mounting the smaller species is to fasten them on a 

 card, and place it in a glass tube ; but the glass gathers moisture, 

 and the lines made on the glass when the tube is drawn shew some- 

 times very much. The best plan I have so far adopted for mounting 



